Page 43 of The Wrong Bachelor

“Well, I think that we could really play up the love story between you two if you would just—”

I cut him off with a scowl. “No, Angus. I’m not going to manipulate the situation into something it’s not. I’m at work, and you’re not my boss. So take your ideas back out into the restaurant and keep them to yourself.”

He opened his mouth to try and argue back.

“Don’t make me throw you and your film crew out of here,” I warned.

“Fine,” Angus grumbled. “But just so you know, you’re missing out on an excellent opportunity to grow the interest in our show.”

He gave me a disappointed look before turning and heading back to the main restaurant. It took me several minutes to calm down before I went back out there myself.

When I brought the water to the table, Cole still didn’t look at me. He murmured a, “thank you,” but didn’t make eye contact when he said it. It was so unlike him. Even when he’d been dating girls before, he’d always made time to try and irritate me.

“Are you guys ready to order your food?” I asked. As far as I was concerned, the sooner they ate and left the better. I knew Angus wanted to get a reaction out of me, but I was determined not to give him any material to work with. I would do my job and treat them just like everyone else.

“We’ll have a large Mr. Beefy and a small Little Miss Veggie,” Cole responded. It was obvious who wanted which pizza considering the sizes and the fact Willow was a vegetarian.

I jotted down the order and tried not to smirk at Cole’s choice of pizza. I always felt like people’s pizza choices said a lot about their personality. Cole had pretty much chosen the jock of all pizzas. It was hardly surprising.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

I looked up and found him watching my lips. “Nothing,” I responded, quickly. I’d barely even been smiling.

“No, clearly something about our order is making you laugh,” he continued.

“It’s nothing you’d be interested in,” I replied. I walked off before Cole could continue to press me, but I could feel his gaze on me as I walked across the restaurant.

“Want me to coat his pizza in hot sauce?” Jazz asked, peering over her shoulder in Cole’s direction as I came to stand next to her.

“Why would I want you to do that?”

“Because he’s looking way too comfortable with his date,” she said. “I think we should make things interesting. Spice them up a little, you know.”

I followed Jazz’s gaze toward Cole and Willow. They did appear awfully comfortable with each other. I’d never seen them exchange two words before, and yet they seemed to be talking easily enough. They actually looked happy to be there, which I hadn’t really expected.

I was especially surprised by Willow. She was usually so nervous around people and had been terrified in front of the cameras so far. How was it that Cole of all people could put her at ease?

I focused on Jazz once more. “No hot-saucing the food, Jazz,” I warned. I could already imagine the commotion that would unfold because of it. It would probably make Angus’ night.

Jazz looked back at me and let out a sad sigh. “You used to be fun.”

“Don’t lie,” I replied, with a grin. “We both know I was never fun.”

“True,” she agreed with a smirk. “Fine, I’ll leave the sabotage for now. But I won’t be able to control my actions if he goes in for a kiss.”

I laughed, but my stomach also dropped at her words. I had thought it was sweet of Cole to choose Willow for this date, but did I really want him to kiss her?

I glanced in his direction and found Cole was looking at me. He lifted one eyebrow when our eyes met. There was a questioning look in his gaze that I couldn’t seem to understand. He was probably just wondering where his pizza was. I looked away quickly and disappeared into the kitchen. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what Cole was wondering.

I somehow managed to keep my interactions with Cole and Willow to a minimum for the rest of the evening. I kept things entirely professional when dealing with them, which I’m sure annoyed Angus. I knew he was after drama, but I refused to pretend to be someone I wasn’t.

When the two of them finally left, thankfully taking the film club with them, I felt like I could breathe again. Their presence had seemed to steal all of the oxygen from the room, and I’d been struggling to fill my lungs during the couple of hours they’d been in the restaurant.

Unfortunately, Angus hung back for a few minutes once everyone else had gone. He was frowning, and when I saw him beckoning me from the door, I had a bad feeling that whatever he wanted to talk to me about wasn’t pleasant.

“I’m disappointed you weren’t more willing to help us out tonight,” Angus told me as I reached him.

I gave him a shrug. “That’s not what I signed up for. I’m sorry, Angus.”

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